Open the Mac 한국어
App review macOS 터미널 & Apple Silicon / Intel Mac

ipatool: Free Command-Line Tool to Search and Download Mac App Store and iOS Apps Directly

ipatool is an open-source command-line utility that lets you search and download Mac App Store and iOS IPA packages directly in terminal without touching the GUI store.

Section
Free
Applies to
macOS 터미널 & Apple Silicon / Intel Mac
Reviewed
2026-09-14

At a glance

Install with brew install ipatool, authenticate with your Apple Account, and download notarized Mac and iOS packages directly via streamlined terminal commands.

Interacting with the Mac App Store GUI can feel sluggish when all you need is a quick bundle download or an automated installation workflow.

ipatool is an open-source CLI client designed to query the App Store and fetch signed package archives directly in the terminal.

Installation via Homebrew

Terminal — Install ipatool
brew install ipatool

Search and Download Workflow

  • Authenticate: ipatool auth login --keychain
  • Search Mac Store: ipatool search "AppName" --platform mac
  • Direct Download: ipatool download -b com.developer.identifier
In this guide
  1. Installation via Homebrew
  2. Search and Download Workflow
  3. At a glance
  4. Run the command
  5. What stands out
  6. Questions that usually follow
  7. Continue reading
  8. References

APP REVIEW

What stands out

Run the command

Copy the command below and paste it into the terminal described in the guide.

Administrator terminal
brew install ipatool

Questions that usually follow

Can it bypass paid app licenses?

No, ipatool connects with official Apple authorization; only free apps or items already licensed to your Apple Account can be fetched.

Is credential storage secure?

Yes, auth tokens are encrypted directly inside the native macOS Keychain subsystem.

Continue reading

References